This article deals with the role of caseworkers in Germany's Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) in the process of implementing administrative reforms. We argue that a successful outcome of reforms depends heavily on how caseworkers understand and interpret innovations. Our new data reveal how caseworkers assess the impact of the reforms and how they see themselves in the process. The results suggest that particularly the recent reforms' acceptance by street-level-bureaucrats is a necessary background for its successful implementation.